Where is the policy? A bibliometric analysis of the state of policy research on medical tourism

Abstract

Background: It is imperative that researchers studying medical tourism connect their work with policy, so that its real-world challenges can be better understood, and more effectively addressed. This article gauges the scope and evolution of policy thinking in medical tourism research through a bibliometric review of published academic literature, to establish the extent to which researchers apply public policy theories and frameworks in their investigation of medical tourism, or consider the policy imperatives of their work. Methods: A Boolean search of the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection was performed to identify policy-related publications on medical tourism. We analyzed the results using bibliometrics and a data visualization software called VOSviewer to identify patterns in knowledge production and underlying network linkages in policy research on the subject. Results: Our findings suggest that only a small proportion of medical tourism research explicitly addresses policy issues or applies policy paradigms in their study approach. Field-specialized journals serving practitioners publish less research as compared to interdisciplinary social and health policy journals. Moreover, there are significant geographical and disciplinary disparities in the policy-orientation of research, and a predilection towards select policy areas such as reproductive and transplant tourism to the neglect of more holistic governance and health system considerations. Conclusion: This article is a call to action for greater engagement by policy scholars on medical tourism, and for health researchers to more explicitly consider how their research might contribute to the understanding and resolution of contemporary policy challenges of medical tourism. Failure to clearly and consistently make the policy connection is a lost opportunity for researchers to frame the public debate, and influence policy thinking on medical tourism.

A bilingual systematic review of South Korean medical tourism: a need to rethink policy and priorities for public health?

“…This is likely reflected by the fact that the majority of literature we reviewed did not address the topic from a public health or health system perspective, but instead focused on barriers to development, economic impact, effectiveness of promotional policies, and experiences and satisfaction of medical tourists. This asymmetry in the policy research agenda for South Korea is also reflected in broader published reviews of the medical tourism industry by Virani et al that suggested only a small proportion of medical tourism research focuses on policy issues [56,57]. Crucially, this could create knowledge gaps in how we understand the pros and cons of this industry and further limit the ability to generate evidence-based policymaking in favor of public healthcentered outcomes.…”

“…Although national governments are expected to play a critical role in regulating the private healthcare sector (including the medical tourism industry), state interventions or remedial actions by the South Korean government that have been implemented thus far appear to be minimal. Critically, even though concerns have been raised and South Korean policymakers purposefully shaped the Act based on strategies of competitors, policy learning has been selective, with many of the remedial mechanisms used by other countries to guard against the problematic aspects of their own domestic medical tourism industries neglected [56,57]. For example, Singapore has attempted to address the issue of internal brain drain by recruiting high quality healthcare workers from other neighboring countries and offering competitive salaries, training and career development opportunities [56].…”

Global Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan: A Critical Bibliometric Analysis and Review

“…We performed bibliometric analysis (employing similar methods as: [6,31,32]) using the databases of Scopus and Airiti Library. Several Taiwanese journals are not indexed in Scopus, which was why Airiti Library was selected for finding Chinese-language articles.…”

El arrendador de alojamiento privado: aliado estratégico del turismo médico en el municipio Plaza de la Revolución.

“…Durante décadas el turismo ha experimentado un continuo crecimiento y una profunda diversificación, hasta convertirse en uno de los sectores económicos que crece con mayor rapidez en el mundo (Virani, Wellstead, & Howlett, 2020). A nivel mundial representa el 10% del producto interno bruto, genera uno de cada once puestos de trabajo, el 30% de las exportaciones de servicios y el 7% del comercio internacional.…”